Ravens Head Brewing hoping to find home in Cohoes Armory

COHOES -- The address of Ravens Head Brewing has yet to be determined, with their Facebook site stating on the location line: "Help us find our home." But there is a good possibility that the new home could be the Cohoes Armory.

"It's a bit premature, though we did make an offer," said brewer Brennon Cleary of Kinderhook. He noted that it was his understanding that two other offers were on the table, which is why it was too early to say if his offer would be accepted. His broker noted that there was another offer, with a second expected today.

Despite this, the city of Cohoes was excited at the prospect of a possible brewery and future brew pub that offered tastings and maybe food.

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"We identified that location as a strong area for development," said Ed Tremblay, director of community and economic development in Cohoes. He said the brewery would fit in well with their plans for the neighborhood which would include making a nice park area and an extension to downtown. The city is thinking about acquiring pieces of land in that neighborhood and working with landlords to help rehab and develop the area. The plan, in the long run, would make it similar to Troy's Washington Park, Tremblay explained.

Tremblay and Cleary said there were multiple factors which made the site a good location for the brewery, including its proximity to Route 787 and the fact that it would not be near any active churches or schools or other breweries. Tremblay said there have been a couple breweries in the Spindle City's past but they have been out of business for many years.

The Cohoes Armory, located at 33 Hart St. between Main and Columbia streets, dates back to the 1880s. Most recently, it was the location of a printing business and before that it housed a popular apparel store, Cramer's Armory.

Tremblay said other prospective uses for the site, in the past couple years since it has been on the market, included a light manufacturing firm, the space for an incubator company and as a recreational venue. He said some have wanted to put trampolines and even a small wave pool in the building which has a total of about 16,000 square feet, with both the first floor and basement at about 8,000 square feet.

It was assessed at about $130,000 when current owner Kevin Winne purchased the property in 2001, for about $100,000. The current bidding has surpassed $200,000.

If it were to become a brewery, only one permit would be needed since the site is already zoned for mixed-use, said Tremblay, who said his understanding was that the two other bidders had backed out. One included an auctioning company.

Following the issues the brewery faced in possibly locating the Ten Broeck neighborhood in Albany, Cleary said the reception from the city of Cohoes has been "refreshing." He said he liked the high ceilings at the Armory and Neo-gothic architecture. Ravens Head does not currently commercially sell beer so the Cohoes site, if finalized, would be their start up location. Cleary said they would offer an English style ale, a Kolsch and an India Pale Ale, along with other beers he has been home brewing including one with vanilla bean and another called Peachberry Wheat. Though, he mentioned, much would depend on the Cohoes water quality.

Cleary expected that operations would be up and running, at whatever location they ended up at, in about 7 to 10 months. He said they had also shown interest in a site in Hudson and, if they had been notified earlier, would have been interested in the St. Patrick's church location in Watervliet.

"The Armory would make sense for us," Cleary said. "But it comes down to what city really wants us. Nothing is concrete yet."